On a recent episode of HR Insider, we had the chance to sit down with Kimer Moore, owner of Capriccio HR. Capriccio is a human resources consulting firm that specializes in strategic HR and Total Rewards services and solutions for small and medium-sized organizations. Having spent much of her 19-year career in compensation, Kimer shared with us some of the hottest topics in compensation that she is seeing today.
Topic #1: Keeping Up With Legal Changes
There’s a lot going on in our country related to employee compensation, and helping companies stay on top of everything is more important than ever. One trending topic, of course, is the shifting legal landscape of benefits as dictated by the Affordable Care Act. Laws are changing, and companies must ensure they remain compliant.
In addition to the ACA, Kimer explains, “FLSA, which is your Fair Labor Standards Act, also has some legal changes that we’re trying to kind of keep on top of, making sure that people are compliant. But everything is bouncing back and forth. Do we do it? Do we not do it? So a big trend in compensation and benefits right now is just keeping an eye on what’s going on in the legal universe and making sure that the company is compliant with that.”
Topic #2: Equal Pay
The topic of equal treatment in the workplace has garnered more attention in the mainstream than ever before; this means that companies must ensure they aren’t in violation of any laws. Kimer says, “There is a lot going on around equal pay and equal rights. That’s another thing we’re trying to keep an eye on, making sure companies are paying people for the work that they do and not based on any other factor like gender. Some states have even started to implement rules stating that you cannot ask a candidate what their prior salary was at a company. You can only ask what they’re looking for.” Ultimately, companies need to take a step back and make sure they are paying every employee consistently with the market.
Topic #3: Total Compensation Packages
The last hot topic Kimer shared with us is the importance of the total compensation packages, beyond base salary. While potential and current employees alike often get caught up in the salary alone, it is important for employers to communicate the total value of the entire package. Kimer adds, “I think somewhere a company could get a little bit more bang for its buck, if you will, is offering good benefits packages to the employees in order to attract and retain people. When you give employees good benefits at your company, those are things that make it harder to leave because they’ve become used to the comfort of those benefits, and other companies may not necessarily have it as good. So benefits are another option for companies to attract talent and add value.”
While compensation is certainly not a new topic, it is an ever-evolving one. There are always new laws and policies being put in place and it is important for companies to be aware of these.